1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a domestic built-in oven having a door, a control panel positioned above the door and a cooling system including a fan-motor assembly for drawing air around at least a portion of the oven and an exhaust duct for discharging air to the ambient. More specifically the invention is related to the inlet-outlet areas of the ventilation system and the flow path of the air inside the appliance.
2. Description of the Related Art
A built-in oven having an air outlet positioned above the control panel is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,010. This oven is a gas oven where the problems of vapor condensation on the control panel are quite relevant. Moreover such document discloses also a horizontal cool air duct which has an exhaust opening at the front of the oven, below the control panel and above the door. Even if the air discharged by such cool air duct does not contain the moisture contained in the gas flow discharged trough the upper outlet, nevertheless such air contains moisture too since it can draws air around the oven. Moreover, in order to reduce the temperature of the hot gases exhausted by the oven, an auxiliary cooling air duct is needed with a related exhaust opening in the area above the control panel for mixing the cooling air with the hot exhaust air. This construction is therefore quite complex and expensive.
The present electric built-in ovens do not have the problems of discharging the quite high flow rate of humid gas of a gas oven and they have the air outlet of the ventilation system below the control panel. Despite the lower content of moisture of the discharge air compared to gas oven, nevertheless this is known to create condensation issue as well, particularly while cooking food with high water content at low temperature cooking cycles or when specific environmental conditions are met. As a matter of fact in the ventilation system are exhausted the gases produced during the cooking process in the oven cavity, such gases being composed mostly of water vapor.
This humidity while escaping is going upwards due to the high temperature of the air and usually condenses on the outer cold oven surfaces, in particular on the control panel which is made of metal or glass and is provided with knobs, buttons, metal trim or aesthetical components. This is creating potential rust spots, scale build up and, and hot spots for customer. Moreover the condensation of humidity on electronic components behind the control panel, reached through possible apertures in the panel itself, can create potential risk of malfunction of electronic components of the oven.
The solution of the above US document cannot be easily transferred to an electric built-in oven since it was designed for gas ovens. Moreover its complexity, cost and the presence of a flow of discharge air below the control panel cannot solve the above mentioned problem of condensation in an electric oven.